Basic Elite Maximizer Question
 

Hi!

Stupid question most likely, so treat me gently.

I currently am 3K miles short of making Premier Silver right now with 22K miles in my United Mileage Plus Account this year. I'm about to fly on Continental a 2K mile trip which will leave me 1K short. The have presented me with the OnePass Elite Maximizer option to earn an additional 2K OnePass Elite Miles. Is it correct to assume that these extra Elite Qualifying Miles will transfer over to my MileagePlus qualifying miles and that if I purchase it I will end up with 26K miles? Just wasn't sure how the purchasing miles worked and don't want to be stuck 1K miles short.

Thanks!!

You are correct. You should connect your OnePass and MP accounts if you haven't already. After 12/31 the two accounts will be merged together and all earning for 2011 will be combined towards 2012 status and you'll be set for Silver.

The only drawback is that you'll have to wait until 1/1/12 (or thereabouts) for the status to kick in.

if you link accounts, it will happen within a week or two of the combined total crossing a status level
www.united.com/combinemyactivity

Oh wow I didn't realize that! Thanks for clarifying my misinformation.

4500 Elite Miles Needed
 

My wife will be 4500 miles short for 150K this year and wondering if it is worth it to try to get 2 extra Regionals.
How does someone get to utilize the Elite Maximizer option? Could you walk me through the process to see if it is worth it for her?

Current Elite maximizer rate is around $0.13/mile. That puts you at $ 585 for those 4500 EQM and 2 certs. It's your choice whether that is a good value. (( Note: Elite maximizer rate will likelycontinue to increase to the end of the year))

__

How to Maximize:

1) Find a flight that ihas a true miage equal to or just over the number of EQM you need. ((A r/t with about 2,250 miles each way))

2) Book the flight. You can either do a fully refundable fare so you have time to subsequently cancel *or* you can be sure to cancel within 24 hours. You are NOT planning on actually flying this flight...so be sure you do this in a way that you don't get hit for any fees....either fully refundable or within 24hours.

3) Now go to your home page and find the flight in your reservation.

4) "View" the flight
5) On this page there will be an option of "buy extra miles for this trip" ... choose that option
6) Click the "purchase double miles" tab. This will produce an additional (invisible until this point) called "add elite maximizer". ...click it.
7) Buy the EQM.
8) The EQM will now shortly appear in your Continental account.
9) Cancel the flight.

...... profit.

Good luck.

So not worth it. One can fly a quick MR for half that.

In this case it might not be worth it. I'm about 600 miles short of 1K and so for me it cost less than $100 to do this. I doubt I could find a round trip for less than $100.

THANKS
 

Thanks all for the info.......Just not worth it in our case.

and with all this the EQMS actually post? EVEN AFTER canceling the flight?

yes -- the advice is to await the Maxizimer EQMs posting (appears to be within a few hours) and then cancel the underlying flight

omg I am totally insane someone shoot me eeek

wow

Another basic question here - is there a way to tell which flights are eligible for Elite Maximizer? I purchased a flight from SFO-MRY a couple of hours ago and the option to 'purchase miles' is still not showing up when I view the reservation. The reservation has been ticketed, so I'm thinking the option should be visible by now. Or am I just being too impatient...?

all flights booked (including award tickets) on CO.com are eligible (on a normal day)

you might to read this http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...am-12-5-a.html

CO has flights EWR-BOS advertised for $102 r/t-- slightly over $100, but not sure you'll find anything much cheaper.

Thanks much - I had not seen this so had no idea. Guess I'll sit tight 'til Monday.

I am not seeing the "Buy extra miles for this trip" any where on the "view" screen of my reservation. Where is it on that page. Is there another way to get to it? I'm not accustomed to the CO booking web page. On UA this all occurs at the time of purchase.

Quick question re: your statement above.

My partner needs 700 miles or so to make Platinum. He has a flight to Florida already booked (via UA.com but operated by CO). Reservation shows on CO.com shows the EliteMaximizer option.

I'm assuming that means he can purchase the needed elite miles even the tickets were booked on UA.com? I want to be sure since I've only ever heard and read that the reservation had to be booked on CO.com in order for it to work.

If you utilize Elite Maximizer to reach 1K, you will still receive the 6 SWUs, correct? Just want to make sure it does not disqualify you from the SWUs.

yes

Tripple Maximizer EQM's
 

I'm mostly a UA flyer and was coming up short by about 8K for 1K status. So I started looking around the CO threads and came upon the maximizer program (nothing like this over at UA). So I joined the OP program and found an MR flight that would work for me with the thought that I would buy the Maximizer upgrade. When I got there, I was offered not only the double, but also a tripple Maximizer upgrade. No one that I know of has mentioned this possibility in the forums. Is this generally known? Also, how long will it take for these EQM miles to show up in my UA account? I transfered the award miles over to UA and they showed up immediately -- but the EQM's did not.

Since it's operated by CO and has a CO PNR, it will work.

Much easier to think about "double" (i.e. your actual needs) versus "triple" ( 1/2 your needs) for calculating which flight is needed.

CO elite miles not posting as EQMs in UA?
 

I performed the below process and transfered the elite miles to UA however they are not being added to my EQM, only to my normal milage total. The miles still show up in my CO account as elite miles also. Does anyone know how elite miles from the two programs are supposed to combine?


How to Maximize:

1) Find a flight that ihas a true miage equal to or just over the number of EQM you need. ((A r/t with about 2,250 miles each way))

2) Book the flight. You can either do a fully refundable fare so you have time to subsequently cancel *or* you can be sure to cancel within 24 hours. You are NOT planning on actually flying this flight...so be sure you do this in a way that you don't get hit for any fees....either fully refundable or within 24hours.

3) Now go to your home page and find the flight in your reservation.

4) "View" the flight
5) On this page there will be an option of "buy extra miles for this trip" ... choose that option
6) Click the "purchase double miles" tab. This will produce an additional (invisible until this point) called "add elite maximizer". ...click it.
7) Buy the EQM.
8) The EQM will now shortly appear in your Continental account.
9) Cancel the flight.

...... profit.

Good luck.

Elite miles don't "transfer" to UA; they just post to your CO OnePass account. After about a week or so, your MP status will suddenly update to be whatever the combination of your OP and MP balances are.

For example, if you were sitting on 48,200 miles in MP and bought 3,000 OP EQMs, about a week later your MP account will still say 48,200 EQMs but will also say Premier Executive.

I am going to end up 660 miles short of re-qualifying for Silver.

I will be flying IAH-PHL round trip for Christmas so I will have to buy the Elite Maximizer on my return leg to ensure I get it.

I doubt they'd gift me the 660 miles, right?

Is my interpretation that you need to use your CO OnePass number and not your UA MileagePlus number when executing this transaction? Or will the double miles option present itself using either number?

yes, the EQMs can only be credited to your OP account.

Thanks for the timely reply. Another question: Within the instructions posted, it is mentioned to "be sure you do this in a way that you don't get hit for any fees....either fully refundable or within 24 hours." I am wondering is an indicator that the additional fees for Flexible Fares or Unrestricted Fares are non-refundable? Or, are these the options you need to select to ensure that you can cancel the ticket?

660 miles after your IAH-PHL flight? I wouldn't count on anything being gifted. Look for an elite maximizer and do so quickly, the price is going to skyrocket over the next 2 weeks.

As long as you buy a refundable ticket or cancel within 24 hrs nothing to worry about.

yes, upon completion of the IAH-PHL/PHL-IAH I will be 660 miles short.

I checked the elite maximizer earlier and it was $398!

I will probably buy it for my return leg...I seem to recall being able to buy the miles at kiosk.

I think on my last PHL-IAH it was $145 for 1324 miles

If you wait until your flight the price will be even higher. If you're definitely going to do it, look for a 660+ mile flight now, book it, get the EQMs and cancel the ticket. Last year I think the maximizer was up to 37 cents per mile.

seeking more information
 

seeking some more information from the experts.

I currently have 19K EQMs, 1K Flex EQM, and I have a trip coming up frpm PIT-IAH giving me about 1K EQM. Thus I will have about 21K EQM by end of the year. Now, if I buy additional miles on my ticket it costs me $135 for 4,468 (triple) miles. But my return trip is on Jan 2 from IAH to PIT.

1) if I buy these triple miles will I become Silver Elite on Continental for 2012? i.e. will these additional miles get added to my account instantly or will they be added after I complete the trip?

2) Continental is giving me an option to buy additional Elite Maximizer miles for $671. What is this option? Is it giving me a gold status or something?


Would really appreciate any information. Thanks.

The extra miles will post in a few hours (does not matter the return is in 2012) BUT from the price -- this appears to be the RDM option -- not EQMs.
these are the EQMs and added to your 21K EQMs will get you Silver status for 2012.

Thanks WineCountryUA. So the miles I will buy are regular miles for reward ticket and to get to Elite I need to pay almost $800. So, when people talked about getting a ticket and paying for additional miles and then cancelling the ticket in 24 hours. They mean buying the Elite Maximizer miles that cost so much more. Is this really worth it? :(

Any reports on the current maximizer rate? Was only 13 cpm last weekend.

$800 for silver? IMO no. Between bag fees and ELR if your travel for next year is still ~25k miles you'll do better just paying for those yourself. You could get one of the UA/CO credit cards for the bags and priority boarding (and RDMs).

Just checked this morning, current rate is 18 cpm as of 12/17.

well probably makes more sense for a gap toward the higher levels of status and it made more sense when it was 7 cpm than the present 18 cpm for EQMs.

thanks all. really appreciate the advice and information.

Looks like I will be letting go of my 21k EQMs this year and hope to be an Elite someday so I can get free upgrades. :)


BTW based on the costs shown to me it appears that OnePass Maximizer is 3 cpm and Elite Maximizer is additional 15 cpm.